


I'm someone you maybe might love

by satinflowers



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Internalized Homophobia, Multi, Post-Season/Series 03, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2020-11-22 11:30:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20873492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satinflowers/pseuds/satinflowers
Summary: Steve assumes his friends will leave him behind, because they got their scholarships and he didn't. Until the application for NYU comes back, and he's in. He couldn't be happier. One problem: Jonathan Byers, is his new roommate.Robin's has been on track for NYU since she was 10. When her best friend gets in, it only sweetens the pot. Only issue: Nancy Wheeler is her new roomate. Steve want them to be friends, but Robin just can't see that happening. Well, as friends. Something more than that... is a little more probable.Jonathan Byers is already dealing with keeping his brother's secret, taking care of his mom, helping support his family, and his dissipating feelings for Nancy. Rooming with Steve Harrington does not make his life any easier. But maybe it is what he needs.Nancy Wheeler has no time for chaos. She wants her degree and her job in journalism. She thinks she wants Jonathan. But with Robin, chaos is a given. And it's fun.Crazy parties, feelings for the wrong people, and a monster from another dimension or two make these years four to remember.Edit: steve experiences a panic attack during the forth chapter, so if that could be triggering, skip it.





	1. I'm 19 and I'm on fire

> **Steve Harrington**

> **November 5th 1986**
> 
> **Hawkins, Indiana**

Steve stared in shock at the envelope and letter on the floor, his own name winking up at him from the front of the acceptance letter. His name. On an acceptance letter.

He'd applied to NYU last summer, after learning Jonathan was going and Nancy was following him. Once he'd learned Robin had been on track to NYU for, like, half her life, he'd applied. They were _sort of, maybe,_ his only friends.

But he never expected to get in.

He'd expected it to come back like all the others: _we are very sorry, Mr. Harrington, but you just don't seem like the right fit for our school. Thank you,_ Indiana University. Ohio State. University of Chicago. Michigan U. All of them politely telling him, no, our apologies, Mr. Harrington. You aren't good enough. Letter after letter of rejection, of his father clenching his teeth seeing the crumpled up papers in the trash can.

Now, next September, he'd be going to university with his only friends that aren't middle schoolers. Well, freshmen now. But same difference.

He just has to get through 7 more months of working at the goddamn video store.

He also has to tell his dad.

He knows his dad will be proud of him. Maybe.

Robert Harrington always wanted his son to be successful, but maybe Steve is still a disappointment for going to school after getting rejected, like, _40 times_. And there's the whole problem with paying for an out of state school. His dad has enough money, for sure, but is he willing to pay for it?

Steve decides these are questions for tomorrow. He always decides talking to his father is for tomorrow. He also decides he needs to get it out, to tell somebody, anybody, right now. Not Robin or Nancy, the telephone is in the living room and his dad is in the living room. So that leaves his mom or his sister.

He goes to Maddie's room, knocking lightly on the door before going in without waiting for an answer. "Mads, can I got into NYU." He says without preface. His little sister leaps up from her desk. "I thought you got all your applications back?" Steve nods, "I applied in July, after all the others. And I got in!" He is unable to contain the grin that spread over his face then. Maddy hugs him, pats him on the back.

"Have you told dad?" "Nope. Not yet." "Well, he's paying for it, so you might want to." She says, now smiling obnoxiously. Steve ruffles her hair. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll tell him." "Okay. And… I'm proud of you, dingus." Steve sighs. Maddie has met Robin twice and has already begun using her favorite nicknames. 

Kids these days.

**Robin Buckley**

**November 7th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana**

From the moment Robin walks into the video store and attaches her name tag to her shirt, she can tell something is different about Steve. He has a certain sort of excited light in his eyes that made her suspicious.

"Hey, dingus, is something up? You seem kinda weird." Robin asks, tilting her chair back from the counter. Steve scrunches his nose a bit at the insult, as he likes to call it, or adorable pet name, as Robin calls it.

Steve takes a deep breath before answering. "I got accepted into NYU. Basketball scholarship." Robin nearly fell out of her chair. "Steve! That's amazing! When did you apply?" Steve's hand skims through his hair, combing back one perfectly placed lock.

"Last summer. Nance and Jonathan are both going, and so are you, so I thought I'd apply." Robin grins. She'd been accepted in August, with a Glenn Miller scholarship, majoring in instrumental performance. "What's your major?" She asked. Steve responded with a shrug.

"Dunno yet. 'Spose my dad would want architecture, so maybe that." Robin frowned. "Yeah, but what do you want to do? D'you even like architecture?" Steve shrugged again.

"I guess I'd like an art class. Maybe a minor?" Robin nodded, satisfied. "When are you going to tell Nancy and Jonathan?" Robin didn't particularly like the couple, but Steve was friends with them, and they were going to the same college, so she s'posed she'd have to make nice. "I'll tell them soon. D'you want to be roommates?" He said.

Robin laughed, saying, "you sure we should let the lovebirds have a private dorm?" Steve made an _ick_ noise, nodding in agreement. The bell over the door twinkled, interrupting their conversation. Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers walked through the door. "Speak of the devil." Robin muttered, as Steve welcomed them. "What were you guys talking about? Seemed pretty funny." Nancy smiled.

"Oh, Steve got into NYU." Robin said nonchalantly. Steve elbowed her in the side and Nancy rushed over to hug Steve, cooing "Steve! I'm so proud of you! I didn't even know you applied!" "Yeah, well, didn't want to get your hopes up." He answered. Robin saw Jonathan standing awkwardly by the door, his hands in his pockets, and shot him a sympathetic smile. Jonathan was friends with Steve at Nancy's insistence, and was uncomfortable with him.

Nancy peppered Steve with questions about university: "what are you majoring in? Any minors? Are you living off campus? Are you going to be roommates with Robin?" Steve answered the rapid fire questions, which seemed to satisfy Nancy. At the last one, Robin gave a kind of dry laugh. "Girls and guys can't live in the same dorm room, 'member? They think we're having sex or something." Nancy and Jonathan both blushed.

Then Jonathan spoke for the first time since he'd walked in the door. "Nance, d'you think you and Robin would wanna be roommates? To have a familiar face 'n all." Nancy knit her eyebrows, then looked at Robin. "Yeah, I guess, if Robin wants to." Robin shrugged. "Okay. But what about you boys?" Nancy answered for them, slinging her arms around both of Jonathan and Steve. "I think these two need to have some bonding time."

Horror dawned on their faces as they realized what she meant and began to protest. "Nance, I don't think-" "Nancy, you aren't serious-" they began, but Nancy Wheeler was fierce in her choices and opinions. It was something Robin had always admired about her, even when the only place she knew Nancy from was a group project in sophomore history. "You two are going to become good friends, even if I have to force it. You don't get a choice in the matter."

Robin felt herself grinning at Nancy's firm tone and the resigned looks on Jonathan and Steve's faces. She couldn't _wait_ for college.

**Jonathan Byers**

**November 7th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana**

"Nancy, are you actually going to make me room with _Steve Harrington?_" Jonathan asked incredulously as they depart the video store. "Don't be so _moody_, Jonathan. I know Steve wants to like you, and I think you'd be more than just casual friends if you tried." She chided.

Jonathan took a deep breath as they passed the police station, only a few minutes from their new house. "Fine, if you think it'll be a good idea." Nancy nodded, like she had known he'd agree. By now, they'd reached the new Byers residence on Maple Boulevard. The door was painted a cheery shade of yellow, set in red brick walls. El answered the door.

The 14-year-old had joined the Byers family after Hopper went missing last July. _Missing_, his mother always said,_ not dead_. Since El had become part of the family, their little house had been filled with nerdy freshman. El went back to watching the game show on the couch and solving addition problems with Will. As El couldn't attend school, Joyce had taken to teaching her kindergarten and first grade lessons, with help from the rest of the kids. El loved learning, and was enthusiastic about reading especially. 

Jonathan's mom came over to the pair.

"Hey, Nancy! I'm just getting a chicken cooked here. D'you want to stay for dinner?" Nancy smiled kindly. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Byers, my mom expects me home soon. Maybe another night?" Joyce smiled and nodded. "Yes, you have to come over soon!" Nancy nodded, and pulled Jonathan to the porch.

She kissed him, and it was soft, and he liked the feel of her lips on his, but he didn't actually feel anything. He loved her, he knew he did, but recently… he'd come to doubt that the whole not-feeling-anything-when-they-kissed thing wasn't Nancy-specific. Maybe just girls in general. Maybe he loved her. But not like _that_.

Will interrupted his thoughts. "Jonathan. Can we.. can I talk to you?" Jonathan nodded, allowed himself to be pulled to Will and El's shared room. "What do you wanna talk about, kiddo?" Will took a shuddering breath, and Jonathan noticed his small body was shaking like a leaf. "Promise you won't hate me?" Will asked. Jonathan was flabbergasted.

"Will, _nothing_ you do could make me hate you. You're my little brother. I love you." He said, putting a reassuring hand on Will's shoulder. "I-I know. It's just… this might," Will whispered.

"I-I like Mike." Jonathan was still confused. "'Course you do, he's your best friend." Will took another shaky breath. "Not-not like that. Like with you and Nancy. Like that." Jonathan was floored. "You… you're gay?" Will sat down heavily on the bed. "I think I might be." Jonathan saw the petrified look on his baby brother's face, the way his skinny arms curled around him. Jonathan suddenly felt ashamed, _ashamed_ that his brother would ever feel _scared_ to talk to Jonathan.

He wrapped his arms around Will, enveloping him into a tight hug. Will began to cry, burrowing his head against Jonathan's chest. "I thought you would hate me," he sniffled, "on the news, they _always_ hate gays, and at school, they called me things, and then they didn't even _know_." Jonathan held him tighter.

"I would never hate you. _Ever_. And no matter what the kids at school say, El and Mike and Lucas and Dustin and Mom would never either. We love you, no matter what." Will smiled up at him through tears. "Thanks, Jonathan."

**Nancy Wheeler**

**November 7th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana**

"Nany! You're home!" Holly hugged her big sister around the middle, referring to her by the nickname Nancy had received when Holly hadn't been able to pronounce "Nancy".

Nancy hugged her sister. "How was school, sweetheart?" Nancy's mom asked, looking up from her bowl of boiling pasta. "It was alright, mom. Lots of homework." Mike acknowledged her with a curt nod, then went back to fiddling with his walkie talkie, probably talking to El or Lucas.

Nancy sighed. The day she and Mike got along would be when hell freezes over if he got his way.

Nancy had been lying on her bed studying for her algebra quiz when Mike barged through the door. "Haven't you ever heard of _knocking_, asshole?" Mike rolled his eyes and collapsed on her bed, shoving her textbook out of the way.

"Can I talk to you about El?" Nancy picked her book of the floor and sat cross-legged on the pink comforter. "Since you so rudely barged in here, I don't think I can stop you." Mike took that as permission. "I think she wants to break up with me."

"What did you do _this_ time?"

Mike punched her shoulder. "I didn't _do_ anything, asshole. I just feel like… she doesn't really love me anymore. And," he pulls his knees up to his chin, "I don't think I love her either."

Okay. _This_ is a little too close for comfort. Did the universe know she was feeling the exact same "we fell in love during a dangerous time and now it isn't and I don't know how to feel about you" thing with Jonathan, and project it onto her freshman brother and his super powered girlfriend?

If so, the universe can go fuck itself.

"Maybe it's for the best. You guys are pretty young, and neither of you dated before that, so maybe... it wasn't what you thought it was. Maybe... this is good." Nancy hopes her words have helped. Mike seems close to tears, but seems a bit reassured. "Did… did this happen to you when you were my age?" Nancy grimaces. _It's happening right now._

Out loud, she says "no, I don't think so. But I didn't meet my first girlfriend while searching for a missing friend or killing monsters." Nancy realizes what she said, but Mike doesn't seem to notice. _No, you didn't meet your first girlfriend hunting monsters, because you aren't queer and you've never HAD a girlfriend, dumbass. And why are you fixating on the one thing you said? Mike didn't react at all._

_Is it maybe because you wish you DID have a girlfriend?_

Shut up, Nancy's brain. You _aren't_ queer. Stop thinking. Focus on Mike.

Mike no longer looks close to tears. "Thanks, Nany." Mike smirks at the name, which is cute when Holly says it, but just make Mike look like a little punk. Nancy throws a pillow at him, but he's long gone.

Mike has left her with much to think about. Does she want to break it off with Jonathan? Is their relationship failing? Why is her nerd brother dating at fourteen when Nancy's first boyfriend was in sophomore year? And one other question, worming around at the back of her brain. One she refuses to acknowledge.

Not now. not ever.


	2. 20 questions, we tell the truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan keeps a secret, Steve shares one. Nancy deals with a heartbroken brother and Robin deals with a crush.

**Steve Harrington **

**February 14th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana**

He still hasn't told his dad. 

He knows his dad is paying for freaking college, he knows he has to tell him. He doesn't know why he's so afraid to. Maybe it's just the thought of talking to his dad. The last conversation they had was about how Steve was old enough to live on his own, and he had a job, so maybe he should move out. It didn't matter that Steve was barely fucking _nineteen_, and besides, where was he going to find an apartment anyway? There were no complexes in Hawkins, and he certainly couldn't afford a house. There is no way to get his dad off his back without telling him. 

So. No choice but to tell his dad.

He's sitting at the kitchen table, drinking his coffee and reading the paper. He always waits here in the morning to take Maddie to school.

"Hey, Dad. I need to tell you something." Robert Harrington flicks his paper closed and sets it on the table. "Yes?" 

"I got accepted into NYU." Steve's dad spits his coffee back in the cup, then, regaining his composure, says, "Congratulations. Your mother will be so proud."  _ Yeah, but aren't  _ you  _ proud? _ "Thanks, Dad." A silence. "I-I need help paying for it. I got a partial scholarship, but… it's not enough." His dad is quiet, his hand resting on the coffee cup. "I suppose I could lend you some money."  _ I'm your son, asshole. You shouldn't  _ lend  _ me anything. You should pay for my education. _

"Thank you, Dad." Steve whispers, voice stiff. He grabs his bag and his keys, walks to the door. "Steven," his dad says, "it's Valentine's Day. Do you have a date or… something? That Nancy girl?" His dad's voice is disinterested, like he couldn't care less. He probably just wants to know if Steve will be in the house tonight. 

"No date, Dad. Me and Nancy broke up over a year ago." An uncomfortable silence. "Ah. Alright. Goodbye, Steven."

"See you, Dad."

He shuts the front door behind him, climbs into the ice cold car cooled by the February weather, turns on the heater. The drive to the video store is short.

He's the first one there at seven thirty in the morning, before the owner. He has a set of keys and gets in and out of the cold. He probably could've stayed home until one o'clock instead of waking up at six thirty, because when Robin arrives for her three thirty shift, he's only had seven customers.

Robin greets him in her favorite way: "have you told your dad yet?" She's asked the same question since fucking December, and this time, he can give the answer she wants.

"Yeah. I did." Steve says. Robin high fives him, grinning. "What did he say? He gonna pay for it?" She asked. "He said he'd _loan_ me the money. Like I'm a _client_, not his fucking _son_." Steve spat. "Oh, _asshole_." Robin pats him on the back. "But hey, seven more months, you're gone."

"Yeah. Only seven months." His tone is sarcastic, but he can feel a smile on his face. He feels uplifted somehow. Maybe it's just talking to Robin.

_Seven months_.

**Nancy Wheeler**

**February 14th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana**

For Nancy, February 14th was shaping up to be the worst day of the year.

It started with Mike, who was moping into his cereal bowl at the beginning of breakfast, and crying by the end of it. It was up to Nancy to deal with it, as her dad was already at work and her mom was busy with Holly.

"Mike, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Nancy thinks it's a little redundant of her to say that, because no one cries when nothing has happened.

"El-Eleven broke up with me," he whines, wiping his eyes on his windbreaker, "last night, and I didn't even do anything, and-" Nancy cuts him off. "Mike, sometimes, it doesn't matter if you didn't do anything. Sometimes people just don't really… fit together, and are better as friends." Nancy isn't sure if she's talking about Mike and El or her and Steve or her and Jonathan or maybe all of them.

"It's okay. Talk to El, ask her why, and maybe you'll feel the same way." Mike doesn't seem reassured, but his crying has stopped. 

"Alright," he hiccups, "if you say so." _I hope I'm right_, Nancy thinks. 

The car ride to school is... awkward. Mike isn't crying, but his eyes are red and he clutches his bag so hard his knuckles are white. Her mom is falsely cheery, asking if they have any plans for Valentine's Day. Mike is silent and Nancy doesn't know what to say. Is it really Valentine's Day if you don't love your Valentine?

Both of them barely register exiting the car into the school parking lot or going to first period, to deep in their own thoughts. 

Nancy is shaken out of her thoughts when she is paired with Robin for a group project. She smiles at Robin, her future roommate. She thinks they're kind of friends, but their conversations are stilted.

Robin, as it turns out, is very smart. The project is going well, and she's getting along with Robin and their other group members when she spots Jonathan out of the classroom door. Excusing herself, she grabs a bathroom pass and meets him in the hallway.

"Nance, I know Valentine's Day isn't the best time, but I have to do this." _Shit, is he breaking up with me? Am I relieved he's doing it or mad that I don't get to?_

"Nancy, I'm… breaking up with you." Nancy is silent for a minute. "I… okay. Okay." Jonathan looks confused. "Okay? Wait-really? You're okay?" Yes, Nancy knows now that she is a-okay with breaking up with him. "Yeah, I'm… actually okay. I feel like we've been falling apart for a couple months. We're better off friends." She smiles, a half-smile, trying to reassure him. "Okay, you're taking this way better than I thought you would. I, I just… I had a conversation with Will, a few months ago. It… helped me realize some things. I," he whispers, "I haven't told anyone about this. But I think I… I might be… gay." 

Nancy's brain is reeling. _Gay_? She doesn't think she has a problem with Jonathan being gay, or anyone, really, not like her dad does. She just doesn't like the thought of her herself being… _you know_. Nancy doesn't know why. If she doesn't mind anyone _else_ being queer, why is is it different with _herself_?

_"Oh._ Alright. So… just friends now?" She tries for a smile, and thinks it works. Jonathan nods, looking relieved. "Right. Well, I have to get back to class. So… bye, Jonathan."

He smiles. "Bye, Nance."

**Robin Buckley**

**February 14th 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana **

Nancy returns from whatever she was doing with Jonathan Byers looking shocked. Her face is a bit pale, and when Robin asks if something is wrong, her voice shakes as she says, "No. I'm fine."

Robin is doubtful of that. She makes a mental note to ask again, and make sure she answers. But right now, it's time to focus on this science project.

Robin is finding that very hard right now. 

She had never really paid attention to Nancy before now- she had always been Steve's ex, Jonathan's girlfriend, or just the big sister of one of the kids Steve is friends with. Now, she's not any of those things to her. Now she's Robin's roommate. 

And Nancy is beautiful, and she has a cute laugh, and the way her brown hair curls around her pencil, and her smile is blinding- and Robin is _definitely_ paying attention now. 

Really, it's unfair to expect Robin to focus on the project. Or _anything_ else. 

So when the bell rings, signaling the end of sixth period, it's a welcome reprieve, allowing Robin to focus on something besides Nancy, Nancy, _Nancy_.

_Except_ she remembers she was supposed to ask her what's wrong. 

"Hey, Nancy." Robin starts, approaching her as they begin walking toward the video store. They've started walking there together, Robin for her job and Nancy to see Steve. "Yes?" Nancy responds, and she doesn't sound sad, just… confused. "I was just wondering… are you alright? You, um, talked to Jonathan, and after it you were weird." 

"Oh. Yeah. We broke up." Nancy is nonchalant about her break up that happened less than an hour ago. Robin's first though is that this means Nancy is single. Her second thought is _no, dumbass, Nancy is straight and also possibly homophobic_. Her third thought is that oh_, shit, Nancy just broke up with her boyfriend_. "Oh my god, are you okay?" Nancy shrugs.

"Yeah. It felt like it was heading this way. I'm just- processing some things." The way she says it makes it clear she doesn't want to discuss it any further. 

They spend the rest of the walk in silence. When they reach the video store, and Steve, they exchanged smiles, and Robin thinks they are finally friends. 

"Hello and welcome to Hawkins video rental a- oh. It's you guys." Steve says when they walk in the door. "No need to sound so enthusiastic." Robin snorts as she puts on her name tag. She waves goodbye to Nancy, who only stays long enough to say hello to Steve.

She peers out of the window as Nancy leaves, and waits until she reaches the end of the block before speaking. "Harrington, I have a problem." Steve is focused on the copies of  _ Back to the Future  _ he's arranging. "Mmm?"

"It's Nancy." Steve is paying a bit more attention now. "I think I might have a crush on her." A copy of  _ Back to the Future  _ clatters to the floor. "You what?" He says. "I said-" "Yeah, I heard what you said. But Nancy? Really? She's my ex, and she's dating Jonathan." He picks _Back to the Future_ up off the floor, replaces it on its stand.

"I don't think Jonathan's a problem anymore." Robin mumbles. Steve catches her words. "Wait, what? What happened?" 

"Well, I probably shouldn't tell you. But they broke up." Steve is so shocked he drops the tape again. "But I thought they were in love and stuff?" 

"Apparently not." 

"So… if Jonathan isn't in the picture anymore, you're going to ask her out, right?" Steve says hopefully. Robin sighs. "No, Steve. I couldn't, not in Hawkins. It would never be accepted."

"Yeah, in _Hawkins_. _New York_ is different. In New York you could do it." Robin sighs again. "You aren't going to let this go, are you?" "Nope," he says, grinning.

_Perfect_.

**Jonathan Byers**

**February 14th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana**

He still can't believe Nancy reacted as well as she did, both to the breakup and his confession. He still can't believe he _told_ her. 

He doesn't know what possessed him to do so; he realized he was gay after Will told him about his own sexuality. The conversation had unlocked something inside him, helped him realize. He had been looking for a way to break up with Nancy for months, and had just decided he couldn't live with it any longer.

After Nancy had seemed perfectly fine getting dumped, the confession had just come spilling out. He was incredibly relieved Nancy had been somewhat accepting, or at least not thrown a slur in his face the way his dad would've. He may not love her romantically, but she's still his best friend.

He skips heading over to the video rental, and instead goes straight home. Will gets picked up by their mom, but Jonathan prefers the walk, to be able to have time just for thinking.

Will is already home when he gets there, and to his surprise, Mike is there as well. Mike's eyes are red and he looks like he's been crying. Jonathan subsequently notices El is nowhere to be found, even though _Jeopardy, _her favorite show, is on right now.

"Hi, Will. Is Mike staying over?" Will nods, mouthing the words "El broke up with him." Jonathan grimaces in sympathy. The Wheeler siblings are having a day very unlucky in love. 

Jonathan goes to his room, and stops by his siblings' door to see El curled up on the bed.

"Hey, El. Will told me what happened. Are you okay?" El sits up in the purple blankets and props her back against the bed. "Am I bad for breaking up with Mike again?" She asks. Jonathan has been ruminating over the same question, only with him and Nancy instead. 

"No, El. It's your choice. You do what makes you happy. Did dating Mile make you happy?" She considers it for a moment. "Maybe. I like Mike. I like to have fun with him. But I like to have fun with Will and Lucas and Dustin but I do not date them." Jonathan nods. "So you like Mike, but just not romantically?" El looks confused. "What is romantically?" Jonathan had forgotten she still didn't know a lot of words, she learned so fast. "It means like… love for one person like you want to kiss them." "Oh. Yes. Not romantically." Jonathan gives her a quick hug, which she returns. "Thank you, Jonathan," she says, smiling now.

He returns to his room to finish his homework, and at ten o'clock when he goes to say 'night to his mom, he finds Will asleep on the couch, a snoring Mike sprawled across him. Both of their faces have no trace of the unhappiness Mike had felt earlier. Will's face wears the expression he always has around Mike: unbridled affection and joy. All of a sudden, Jonathan realizes something.

Jonathan smiles, looks over at the sleeping boys. He _really_ should have guessed by now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from It's Nice to have a Friend by Taylor Swift. I forgot to mention: the only change from st. 3 was that the byers only moved to a new house, not a new town. 
> 
> I'll try to update every 2-3 days, but I can't promise anything.


	3. I hope you're happy with me in your life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's graduation day, and everyone's got something on their mind.

**Jim Hopper**

**June 10th, 1986**

**Hawkins, the Upside Down**

Hopper wakes up in the Russian base he thought he died in. He's _definitely_ not dead. That's good. But there's something _very_ wrong with base. It's cold and dark and there are vines and the smell of rot permeating the place.

He recognizes it.

He's been here before.

The Upside Down.

He doesn't see Joyce anywhere, so hopefully that means she is safe in their dimension. _Joyce_. She is the only clear memory he has of the fight that brought him here. The dead scientist, the Russian who killed him, the portal. Joyce's face as she shuts off the door. The memories are rushing back, and he realizes he sustained some major injuries in the fight.

But he doesn't _feel_ any of them. He looks down at himself, looking for wounds, and instead sees vines trapping him in place. _Shit_. He can't reach anything kind of sharp object that could get him out. He's an easy meal for whatever creatures that may be lurking here. He wonders why nothing has come to get him yet.

The vines must have taken a long time to grow, and if his injuries are gone, he must have been here for a long time. How long has he been away from El?

He knows Joyce would never leave her unprotected if she had a choice. But Hopper didn't even know if Joyce or El were safe, or even _alive_. He has to get back to them.

Whatever has trapped him here, it means this isn't over.

He struggles uselessly against the vines, kicking back and forth. "Shit!" He says out loud this time, realizing he's really stuck. How is he going to find a way to his dimension if he can't get out of these goddamn vines?

He's been awake for about two hours when he hears clanging noises from behind him, in the stairwell. _Shit, shit, shit_. He cranes his neck around to see better, but only succeeds in putting a crick in his neck.

He hears a new sound: human footsteps, from shoes, not demogorgons or whatever the kids call them. _Since when do demons have shoes_? He thinks, cursing some more. _At least this means I'm not going to get eaten immediately_. He reconsiders. _Well, maybe_.

"Hey! Who's there?" No response. "Answer, jackass!" He says forcefully.

The voice that responds chills Hopper to the bone. It's deep, calm, and sounds like the owner is smiling his smooth smile.

He'd recognize it anywhere.

"Hello, Jim. You took your some time in waking up. It's put quite a _wrench_ in our plans."

Then Hopper sees who the voice belongs to.

And screams.

**Nancy Wheeler**

**June 10th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana **

"NANCY, CAN YOU HELP MIKE WITH HIS TIE?" Her mom shouts up the stairs as Mike wrestles with his dress shirt in the next room. Nancy rolls her eyes. She's busy, can't her dad help?

Still, she walks through his door and instructs him on how to tie his tie. It takes ten minutes and Mike is panicking the entire time, saying they're going to be late. He isn't worried about Nancy missing her _high school graduation,_ oh no, he's worried about being late to pick Will and Jonathan up.

Mike spends all of his time around Will now, even more so than he did before El broke up with him. It's been a couple months since El dumped him, and Nancy's pretty sure Mike knows she isn't taking him back. He's still awkward around her, but at least they're _friends_. That's more than Nancy can say for her and Jonathan.

They both agreed they were better off friends, and Nancy still believed that, but they hadn't had a real conversation since _February_. Hopefully that would change today. Nancy missed Jonathan's company, and they would have no choice but to talk when their mothers inevitably started discussing college.

Plus, there was whatever was happening between Mike and Will that they needed to talk about. Jonathan seemed to understand it better that Nancy, for reasons she can't fathom.

Her mom yells for her to come down for breakfast, and Nancy doesn't think about Jonathan anymore.

Breakfast is cereal and Nancy take scare not to spill it on her new dress. Robin helped her pick out the knee-length light blue dress after almost three hours of looking. Steve had decided they needed to _bond_, so dress shopping it was.

Nancy had actually enjoyed it, _enjoyed_ spending time with Robin. She was funny and smart and Nancy liked her company.

Jonathan and Will were waiting on their front porch when the Wheelers arrived. They both looked uncomfortable in their dress clothes, something Mike obviously related to.

Mike attached himself to Will as they walked back to the car, leaving Nancy and Jonathan in the front seats to make awkward conversation.

They talk about their scores on the finals and the Sats, and college, and what movies they've watched recently, everything. But it's stiff and Nancy worries they will never be friends again. Then they're at school and Robin and Steve are waiting.

They wait outside the auditorium as names are called to seat graduating students. Jonathan and Robin are already seated when Nancy's parents and Mrs. Byers, Eleven in tow, arrive. Eleven is wearing her Snow Ball dress, and looks adorable. She makes a beeline for Mile and Will. Dustin and Lucas are there as well, but Max isn't. It's painful for Max to remember that everyone graduating except Billy.

For Nancy, and many other people, that isn't painful at all, but it's tough to lose a sibling, even when that sibling is a piece of shit.

Then Nancy's name is called, and she enters the auditorium.

**Robin Buckley**

**June 10th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana **

The school auditorium is packed with the graduating class, parents, and siblings. Robin's mom cornered Steve, and they're sitting in the far left corner of the room, so Robin can barely see them. Jonathan Byers is a few seats to her right. And Nancy… if Robin cranes her neck the right way, she has a perfect view of Nancy wearing the blue dress Robin helped her pick. She looks gorgeous.

Robin barely processes the principal's speech, she's so busy thinking about Nancy. This is _definitely_ a crush. She doesn't know how she's going to survive being _roommates_ with Nancy.

She's so distracted she almost misses her name getting called. She walks across the stage, receives her diploma. She can hardly believe this is happening, she's finally free of high school, and soon, Hawkins.

Then she sits back down and it's more speeches and staring at Nancy.

The whole ceremony had started at ten a.m., and it was one p.m. now. Robin could have spent more time just looking at Nancy, but eventually, it was over.

The three new graduates plus Steve walked to Mrs. Byers' house. The place was a meeting spot for all of Jonathan and Will's friends, so when they arrived, it was crawling with adolescents. Will and Eleven are laying sprawled on the couch, already changed out of their fancy clothes. Mike is arguing with Dustin about which TV show to watch, and Max and Lucas are helping Mrs. Byers prepare lunch.

Nancy made a beeline for the kitchen to help, and Jonathan is crowded with questions about graduation and college by Eleven and Will, leaving Steve and Robin alone.

"You were _completely_ obvious." Steve remarks, running a hand through his hair.

"About what?" Robin says. "You were staring a Nancy. For the _whole_ event. Anyone with _eyes_ could see you're head over heels." He pokes her in the chest to punctuate his last three words. Robin doesn't know how to respond, so she just says, "okay, and what about it, asshole?" It's not her finest comeback.

"Dunno. Just thought you should know." He says obnoxiously, and Robin punches his shoulder. He started to say something else, but she's saved when Dustin runs up and initiates his nerd handshake involving several Star Wars references.

"Hey, when you nerds are done, maybe you'll want to stop Mike from picking Back to the Future." Dustin ran away, distracted. Steve started what he was going to say again, and Robin put a hand over his mouth. "We'll finish this conversation later. Right now, we're watching… whatever Mike and Dustin agree on." They did _not_ agree, so El picked using eeny-meeny-miny-moe. The_ Return of the Jedi_ won.

The ten of them plus Joyce were halfway through the movie, Mike grumbling the entire time, when Robin heard an odd noise from outside.

It sounded a bit like a scream.

She looked around. The others were engrossed in the movie. She got up, walked to the door, and hesitated. Maybe she'd imagined it. But maybe she hadn't.

She walked out the door. She reaches the end of the block, and realizes she's walking toward the old site of Starcourt Mall. This is the route she took walking there from her house.

Then she hears the scream again, and a fog sets over her mind. And she can't think of anything anymore.

**Jonathan Byers **

**June 10th,** 1986

**Hawkins, Indiana **

Jonathan is the only one who notices Robin is gone.

The others are busy with the movie, which Jonathan had seen a dozen times times thanks to Will.

So he follows Robin down the block. She's walking fast, and he runs to keep up. When she stops suddenly, he runs straight into her. She doesn't react. It's only then he realizes they've gone pretty far: they're only a few minutes from where Starcourt used to be. Robin is staring straight at where it used to be.

Jonathan shakes her, saying "Robin? Robin, can you hear me?" She doesn't respond, but wrenches out of his grip and continues walking. Jonathan moves so he's standing directly in front of her, so she can't go forward. He shakes her shoulders, saying, "Robin. Robin, can you hear me? Are you listening?"

She seems to shake out of a stupor. "I… I heard. I heard… screaming. From Starcourt." "Robin, Starcourt doesn't exist anymore. It was destroyed." He reminds her. She seems dazed, like she just woke up.

"I don't… I _heard_ it." Jonathan nods. "Yeah. Maybe. But we need to go back now." She nods and walks with him. The farther she gets from the old mall site, the clearer her mind is. Outside the house, she says,

"Can you not mention this to anybody? I don't want them to worry." Jonathan agrees. But he's thinking about the screams she heard. Why would she hear them near the mall? Was the thing still alive? Was Billy Hargove alive somehow?

Or maybe. Maybe. It was Hopper, fighting to stay alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from 1950 by King Princess.
> 
> Sorry for the late update, school got the best of me. Hope you enjoy!


	4. I'm holding my breath with a baseball bat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the last day of summer break.

**Steve Harrington **

**August 31st, 1986**

**Hawkins Indiana**

Steve didn't know how he got into Amanda Baker's going-to-college party. Right now, he's too drunk to care. 

He thinks Nancy made him come. He has a vague memory of her telling his spending his last night before college watching tv was depressing.

Well. He  _ definitely  _ doesn't regret it. 

The alcohol went to his head. He'd always been kinda a lightweight, and even in his wasted state, he could tell he'd had one too many beers. Or maybe two or three or four too many. 

He's having a  _ great  _ time. Seems a lot of people forgot Steve wasn't king of the school anymore- hadn't been for years- when they were drunk. He'd already made out with the host. Went a little further with Anne Greenfield, and got stopped by Robin, who laughed. He didn't mind. He hadn't had this much fun in a while. Hasn't felt this accepted.

He downs another red solo cup of cheap beer, cheered on by the party's attendees. It feels  _ really  _ good to be cheered on. 

He chugs another glass. The crowd roars louder as the brown liquid drips down his chin and soaks his shirt. A couple kids lift his up so he's laying down, held up by the crowd's arms.

And then he isn't in the crowd anymore and the liquid on his shirt isn't brown it's red it's _blood. _His surroundings have changed. He's in the mall and he can't breathe and Robin is there and the creature is back and he can't _breathe. _His mind is moving to fast his heart is beating too fast. He doesn't want to be back here he wants to leave just let him _leave-_

_ _ He's back in the crowd. His name is chanted, a chorus of  _ Steve, Steve, STEVE!  _ And it's all so loud and he's free of whatever the hell that vision was but he's still stuck here, in this room full of people who've never seen what he has, who never will, who will never understand. 

And then he sees Robin and knows she knows something is wrong. 

He shouts for her, shouts for the crowd to put his down. They don't hear. Robin is walking faster now, speed walking through drunk teens, pulling him down. 

"STEVE, IS EVERYTHING OKAY?" She shouts over the pounding music, but it doesn't cut through the pounding in his head. 

"I- I don't- I.. I need another beer." Steve says, and he's resolute. He knows getting another drink is not good for him right now, but he's drunk and logic doesn't apply. He grabs another cup of the table.

The beer is gone in one go, and he smacks Robin's hand away when she tries to take the drink. He doesn't remember why she came over here, doesn't remember why his palms were clammy and his heart is racing.

"Robin! Go have fun! Let's PARTY!" He yells, because this is a  _ party  _ and he doesn't remember Robin being this uptight about drinking. She clasps his hand and drags him away from the drinks table, and he doesn't protest because she's his best friend and he might be a little drunk.

She leads him into the bathroom. He giggles a little as she closes the door. "Why are we here, Robin, my friend Robin?" He says. 

She sits him down on the bathtub rim and puts her hand on his shoulder. "You looked kinda weird. I was worried." Steve giggles again. "Ro _ bin _ , I'm alright! I'm having fun!" He shouts. He doesn't need to. The bathroom walls dull the crowd outside, leaving him with a kind of quiet roar. But she needs to understand that he's  _ fine,  _ he's okay.

She looks doubtful, and she touches his hand looks at him in such a familiar way that it all comes  _ rushing  _ back- the reason his heart was running a race in his chest, the memory of the mall in the crowd, why he feels like throwing up. He tells Robin all this, and then he does. He heaves into the toilet as Robin pats his back from her space on the floor beside him. He's trembling all over, his head is aching and dizzy. His breath is coming in short all of a sudden, and he's remembering so much. He recognizes, for maybe the first time, that over the past three years, he could have  _ died.  _ He can't breathe again, and all the memories are rushing at him at once and he just can't  _ fucking  _ take it.

He curls into a huddle on the bathroom floor, on the fuzzy pink bath mat, his head tucked into Robin's chest. She has her arms around him, and she's brushing his hair out of his eyes and tears from his cheeks. 

It helps, a bit, but there's still this sense of a crushing pressure, like the ocean is coming down all around him, and he feels like he's going to die. 

He rocks back and forth, and the pressure in his throat clears, and he can kinda breathe. He realizes he's sobbing. And it feels- good, kinda, to get it out. He's dizzy and he's sobbing and he just threw up and the memories are still there, but with Robin, her arms around him, he feels like he might almost be okay.

They'd been in that position, Steve curled in Robin's arms with free tears flowing from his eyes, for about ten minutes, when Jonathan Byers bursts through the bathroom door.

Of fucking course. He's having some kind of breakdown in a random girl's bathroom at a party, he's crying, he's drunk, so of  _ course  _ the universe decides to throw Jonathan in the mix, just for fun. 

Jonathan looks awkward and starts backing out of the room, but Robin calls for him to stop. Steve can't speak- his breath is still coming out in short, dry heaves- but he shakes his head. This is already embarrassing, he doesn't need Jonathan here to make it worse. 

"Jonathan, can you drive? Steve needs to go home." Robin says. Jonathan nods, saying, "I- I have to get Nance first." Robin makes a motion with her hand, something like,  _ well, go do it, Byers,  _ and he exits the room.

Robin wraps Steve's arm around her shoulders, attempting to lift him up. His legs seem to respond, and he manages to stand. They walk out of the bathroom together, both stumbling slightly, Steve breathing rapidly.

Everyone ignores them, besides Nancy, who wraps Steve's other arm around her shoulders, helps drag him to where Jonathan is waiting with his car. They drape Steve into the backseat and get into the car. He has his head on Robin's lap, and he's started to cry again, great heaving sobs that racked his whole body. 

He's pretty out of it, but when they ask him where he lives, he whispers, "No… not home." Jonathan nods, a kind of nod that says,  _ I understand.  _ Steve doesn't know why, but he appreciates it. 

By the time they've almost reached the Byers' new residence, Steve is sitting up, and his breathing is no longer rapid. 

The first thing he says is sorry.

"I- I'm sorry you guys had to leave early because of me. I don't know what that was." All three of them shrug it off. 

"You don't have to apologize, Steve. Whatever happened to you, it seemed pretty serious." Nancy says, her voice concerned. She looks back at him from the passenger seat, her eyebrows creased with worry. 

They arrive at the Byers' new place at around twelve. Joyce is sitting on the couch, Will and El asleep against her shoulders. She turns to look at them, and when she sees Steve's pale, clammy face, she leaps up, startling Will and El awake. 

"Are you all alright? She asks, motherly concern etched into her face. The other three nod, and when Steve doesn't, she clasps his hands in hers. "What happened, sweetheart?" Will and El echo her, saying sleepily, "yeah, what happened?"

"We… aren't exactly sure." Nancy says. 

"I just… had some kind of breakdown thing at the party." Steve whispers. 

Joyce envelopes him in a hug, and he feels truly  _ safe,  _ for the first time in a long time.

  
  


**Robin Buckley **

**August 31st, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana**

Steve looks  _ so  _ relieved when Mrs. Byers hugs him. It's a good, motherly hug. Robin feels guilty she couldn't give Steve that same comfort when he was having  _ whatever the fuck _ he was having earlier.

"Do you three want to sleep over tonight? It's really late." Joyce offers, and Steve looks like he's about to cry when he refuses. 

"No, I- my dad- I have to go home." Steve says. Robin nods along with him.

"Yeah, my mom will want me home to prepare for the drive to New York tomorrow." She says.

Joyce nods in an understanding way, patting Steve's shoulder. "Do you need me to call someone? Will sees a psychologist from time to time. It might help." She offers. 

"I- yeah, that might help." Steve whispers. Robin privately thinks she might need that as well. She may not be showing it as much as Steve, but her mind hasn't been the same since July. Plus there was that thing with Jonathan and the old mall site… but no. It didn't matter. It was a one-time thing. It won't happen again. It  _ won't _ . 

"I, uh, I'm sorry to ask this, but… can one of you drive me home?" Steve asks, rubbing the back of his neck, "I don't think I'm okay to drive." Nancy immediately offers, but Joyce says, "oh, no. You and Jonathan need your sleep. I'll take them." She picks up her keys, and motions for Steve and Robin to follow her. 

They wave awkwardly to Nancy and Jonathan. "See you guys tomorrow, I guess," Robin says. They nod.

They don't speak as they drive to Steve's house. Steve gets out of the car, and Robin gives him a kiss on the cheek. He waves, takes a deep breath, and enters his house. Robin hopes he'll be okay. Whatever happened at the party freaked her out, but Steve had it worse.

A soon as Steve shuts the car door, Mrs. Byers says, "you two make a cute couple." She's smiling slightly, the way Robin has seen her make at Jonathan and Nancy before they broke up.

Robin laughs out loud. "I- no, Steve and I, we aren't together." Joyce nods, but she seems skeptical. 

"If you say so." She answers. She and Mrs. Byers stay silent after that. Robin watches out the window as they drive, looking through the trees and into alleys. The battle of Starcourt has made a new habit in her- checking spaces where things, big and small, could hide. She hates this constant vigilance that's been reprogrammed in her, but she can't escape it. 

Joyce seems to notice her search through the window. She reaches out a hand and wraps it around Robin's own, a comforting gesture. Robin appreciates it. 

They pass the old site of Starcourt. Robin remembers the vision thing she had in June. She can't forget it, no matter how much she wishes she could. She's convinced herself that it was nothing, just another side effect of fighting an interdimensional monster. It was a weird flashback, that's all.

They get to Robin's house some five minutes later. Joyce gives her a hug as she leaves the car, and Robin feels warm and a little less freaked out.

When she wakes up the next morning, she realizes she overslept. Se rushes to dress, and in doing so, trips over her suitcase three separate times, knocks over a lamp, and runs into her mirror.

This morning is going great. 

She drags her suitcase down the stairs, eats a quick breakfast, shoves her bags into the trunk of her mom's pinto, and collapses in the backseat. She's driving with Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve to New York, and it takes ten hours to get from Indiana to New York, and it's already 9 AM.

Her mom drops her off at Nancy's house and hugged her goodbye for about twenty minutes. When Robin disentangles herself, Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve are ready. They climb into Steve's BMW after loading their luggage on top.

And then they're off, ten hours away from the next four years of their lives.

**Nancy Wheeler **

**August 31st, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana**

It's three hours into the drive when Robin declares she is officially bored. They're halfway through the second of Jonathan's ten different mixtapes. It's been silent besides the Clash playing from the tapes for the last hour.

"This is boring." She says, in a tone that sounds like a five year old complaining  _ are we there yet? _ Nancy rolls her eyes. 

Steve grins and responds before Nancy can. "Robs, we've been driving for three hours. This is a  _ ten hour _ drive." Robin sags down into her chair, slouching onto Steve's shoulders. "Steve, I'm  _ bored. _ Can we stop for some food?" 

Jonathan sticks his head in between the front seats. "We have a loaf of bread, and some oranges if you're hungry." Robin rolls her eyes. She's still leaning on Steve's shoulder, and Nancy can't quite place why it makes her uncomfortable.

Robin's eating one of the pieces of bread now, with one of Steve's arms wrapped around her, the other on the steering wheel. And Nancy realizes she isn't really  _ uncomfortable,  _ more like  _ jealous.  _ She doesn't know why. She isn't jealous of Robin, that's for sure. She doesn't love Steve. She doesn't care if they're dating. So why the hell does she get angry looking at their comfortable relationship?

"You guys make a cute couple." She says, and she isn't really sure why. To fill the silence, or to answer a question, maybe.

Robin and Steve seem to realize they're holding on to each other like the other is a lifeboat. "We aren't- uh, dating." Robin blushes, and Nancy doesn't know why she's relieved. "Yeah. Just  _ friends. _ " Steve's eyes are staring very firmly ahead, but every now and then he'll sneak a glance at  _ Jonathan,  _ of all people. 

God, they aren't even at college yet, and it's already so fucking  _ awkward. _

**Jim Hopper**

**June 10th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Upside Down**

The thing wearing  _ Brenner's face _ cackles as Hopper's shouts echoed through the room, a chorus of screams mixing with the laughter of a monster.

It looks like Brenner, but it has the body of a demogorgon, of whatever the fuck the kids called it. It was somehow more terrifying than the other horrors he had experienced- the mix of a monstrous body and a mind that was human, but more deadly than the monster itself. 

He's struggling harder now, knowing he has to get out, has to warn El, to save her. But the bonds are to thick, and he just yells at the thing to  _ get away _ . 

It doesn't leave, just smiles and moves closer. Hopper shouts at it, "what the  _ hell  _ are you?"

Brenner laughs again. 

"I didn't die as  _ permanently  _ as you thought. The monster made of shadows, the one watching us now, he saw my worth. He brought me back after this thing killed me. But there was a price." He looks in revulsion at his monstrous form. "The creature needs my help to find subject 011 and the others like her. And I am  _ happy  _ to oblige." He reaches a clawed hand over Hopper's vine bonds, sliced them open. "And you are going to help." 

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooooo sorry it took so long to update! School really overwhelmed me :(  
If you guys have any feedback, especially for the panic attack scene, I'd love to hear it!   
Title is from Townie by Mitski. Hope you enjoyed!


	5. Give me one good honest kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's holiday season, which means back to Hawkins.

**Jonathan Byers **

**December 19th, 1986**

**New York, New York**

"Shit, shit,  _ shit! _ " Jonathan exclaims as he picks up his alarm clock off the floor from where he knocked it down in his frenzy make it shut up. It's almost ten o'clock, and his first class of the day, the last day before winter break, starts in ten minutes. 

Steve is still asleep. Lucky bastard, he was smart enough to make sure his first class started at eleven fifteen. Jonathan had been too confident, and now he's going to be late. 

Jonathan grabs his bag and keys from their nook by the door, shoving his lecture notes from Wednesday's class into his pack. He forgets breakfast.

His first class is Spanish, at ten o'clock, and his stomach grumbles through the whole class. Luckily his next class, lighting techniques, isn't until two. He rushes across campus to the dorm he shares with Steve. Steve is nowhere to be seen, with his drafting class going until one fifteen. 

Jonathan sits at the old Commodore VIC-20 eating lunch of leftover pasta from the cafeteria two days ago. He's sitting there, watching a documentary about dolphins on a TV probably older than him, when Steve bursts through the door. Jonathan normally has the apartment to himself between his first and second classes, because Steve has his next class in thirty minutes. He usually justs takes a breakfast bar with him and eats it in the way to visual arts. 

So something must have happened. 

Jonathan has been on high alert all his life. 

His dad made sure of that, and then the monsters did. 

So when Steve rushes in, panic written on his face, Joanthan leaps up. "Robin," Steve whispers, his voice strangled from running, "she's in the forest, and Nancy's with her, and we need help." 

And Jonathan remembers the night, all those months ago. Robin walking to the mall, eyes glazed over, like she was  _ possessed _ , or something. Jonathan had chalked it up to a- a flashback, or something. He knew soldiers, they get haunted by old battles, and it comes back in memories. 

And they are all soldiers, whether they liked it or not. 

So Jonathan runs out, trailing behind Steve, leading him to the forest on the edge of campus. Nancy in tugging on Robin's shoulder, trying to pull her away from the wood. Whatever happened to Robin on graduation, it's happening again.

He has to stop it. 

The three of them together get her back to Nancy and Robin's dorm with a minimal amount of staring. She can see them again, Jonathan thinks, her eyes aren't glazed over. She fully snaps out of it after Steve and Nancy try to move her in two different directions and she's slammed into a door frame. 

"What the  _ fuck? _ " She whispers when she can talk again. Robin is sitting in a ball on the stained brown loveseat, her arms curled around shaking knees. 

"I think that whatever made you go to Star Court in June… I think it's here." Robin glares at him in reproach, and he remembers he wasn't supposed to tell anyone. 

"This has happened  _ before? _ " Nancy exclaims, eyes wide. "Why didn't you tell us?" Robin shrinks a bit. "I- I didn't want you to worry. Until… until now it's a one time thing." Steve sits down heavily next to her. 

"You could have told  _ us.  _ We can help." He says. Robin wraps her arm around Steve's shoulders. She looks up at Nancy, around at Steve, like she's seeing them for the first time. "Don't- don't you guys have class now?" Steve checks his watch. "Oh, shit, it's one thirty-eight!" He makes to grab for the backpack sitting on the couch, then hesitates, turns. He kisses Robin on the forehead, and bounds away to visual arts. 

Nancy drops onto the couch next to Robin, a faint smile playing over her lips. "We're both supposed to be in honors english right now. But I'll cover for you." Robin looks at her, grateful, and there's  _ something  _ in her eyes, and Jonathan can't quite place it, but it's something that looks so familiar, but he can't remember where.

  
  


**Steve Harrington **

**December 20th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana**

The moment they pass the  _ Welcome to Hawkins!  _ sign, Steve wants to be back on campus. 

It's too fucking  _ comfortable  _ here, like the town already forgot everything that's happened. Steve doesn't know why he's having such a visceral reaction to being back. Maybe it's that the last he was here, he had some kind of, like, freaked out and started sobbing. And before that he got tortured by some Russians under a mall, and drugged, and beaten up by Billy Hargrove like ten times, and fought a demon thing. So, yeah, only great fucking memories from dear ol' Hawkins!

He wants to jump out of the fucking car. Because being ground beef on the pavement sounds better than seeing his dad, or passing by Starcourt's ruins. 

Steve can tell the others feel the same. Jonathan's knuckles are white grasping the seatbelt as they pass his old house. Nancy grits her tgritsand Robin's jaw snaps shut, cutting off her chatter, as they drive past the mall. Steve drove as fast as he can without breaking the speed limit. He wants to get to the Byers' place as soon as possible.

When he knocks on the sunshine yellow door and Mrs. Byers answers, he nearly jumped through the frame in his eagerness to escape the memories.

**Nancy Wheeler**

**December 25th, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana**

The oak dining table is crowded with Christmas dishes- mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, buttery biscuits, gravy, with a space cleared in the middle of the table to the ham.

The Wheeler family and the Byers decided to have Christmas dinner together this year, along with Lucas, Max, Dustin, Robin, Steve, and their assorted families. The dining room is stuffed with people mingling and stealing bites off the table while they wait for Mrs. Byers and Nancy's mother to tell them where to sit. 

Mrs. Byers voice cuts through the chatter. "Alright, everyone, you can sit now, we have enough chairs," and she adds, "Nancy, Robin, could you grab the ham from the kitchen?" 

The empty kitchen was a welcome reprieve from the crowded dining room. Robin seems to think that too, hesitating as she steps toward the honey glazed ham. Nancy lifts the ham with one hand, before noticing Robin's misstep a split second before Robin herself does. The ham clatters to the countertop as Nancy reaches forward, catching Robin before she can fall. Nancy's knees are bent, so she's slightly below Robin; their faces are angled together. The fluorescent kitchen lights have given Robin's face a pale glow. Nancy has her caught around the shoulders to stop her fall.

Later, she doesn't know what possessed her to do it. 

She raises her face up to Robin's, and kisses her. 

She feels her sharp intake of breath against her lips as Robin leans in deeper, moving her arms around Nancy's waist. 

They break apart after a moment, faces flushed. Robin's eyes are wide as dinner plates. Nancy stutters for something to say. 

"I- I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I- don't tell anyone." Nancy thinks she catches a hint of something like disappointment in Robin's face, but she nods. 

"We… we'd better hurry or they'll wonder where we've gone." 

Together, they carry the dish to the expectant guests, determinately not looking at each other.

**Jim Hopper**

**December 27th, 1986**

**Hawkins, The Upside Down**

It's been months since Hopper has seen the sun. At least, he  _ thinks _ it's been months. Maybe a year, but not more. Hopefully. 

And for as long as he can remember from his time in the Upside Down, he's been searching for a way out. 

For him, and for something worse. 

The creature, or the mindflayer, or whatever it calls itself, wants to escape. It has Hopper himself and Brenner and the rest of its minions searching for a door, or a gate. 

He's doing everything he can to prevent it, but it's hard trying to stop something that has the same goal as you. 

So he's resorted to hindering progress, sabotaging missions, even killing two of the monsters it controls. The only thing keeping him alive is that Brenner believes he has some kind of information about the gate, a hint he keeps hidden.

Right now, they're searching for a door in the stretch of woods behind Steve Harrington's house. They've already tried the Upside Down versions of Joyce's house, the lab, the mall, the Quarry, and other places where  _ something  _ has happened. So far, they've found nothing. Hopper intends to keep it that way.

**Robin Buckley**

**December 31st, 1986**

**Hawkins, Indiana **

Robin can't stop thinking about the kiss.

It's taken up all of her headspace for  _ days  _ now. Every waking moment is dedicated to thinking about Nancy, remembering her the taste of her strawberry chapstick on Robin's lips. She doesn't know  _ why  _ it happened, but she doesn't really care, either. 

And now it's New Year's Eve, and they're back at the Byers' house, and Nancy won't be kissing her tonight. In fact, Robin doesn't think anyone will be kissing tonight. Nancy and Jonathan broke up, Steve doesn't have a girlfriend, El and Mike broke up, and so did Max and Lucas.

Robin was kind of shocked by the Max and Lucas breaking up. They had seemed to really get along. But when she'd asked them about it, they'd seemed content to be better off friends.  _ Kids have it so easy.  _

And when the New Years ball drops, everyone just kind of sits there awkwardly. After a few seconds, Steve kisses Robin on the cheek. Then it's over and everyone keeps drinking the champagne that Robin really shouldn't be allowed to have.

She spends the rest of the night sipping her champagne and thinking about Nancy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update took SO long and I am so sorry!  
Title is from Nobody by Mitski.


	6. Our Time is Running Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nancy's still thinking about what happened on new years. Steve has a new girlfriend. Hopper has a plan.

Nancy Wheeler  
February 28th, 1987  
New York, New York

It's been two months. Two months. Nancy has been counting the days, methodically tracking every morning when she wakes, as if something will have changed, as if the ki- whatever it was, will have disappeared. She knows it won't.   
I should never have done that. I led her on. I don't even know if I like her like that.   
Even in her head, it sounds like a lie.   
She knows exactly how she feels, and it scares her. It scares her so, so much, but it also feels strangely good, natural, in a way it never had with Steve or Jonathan.   
She knows something now. She's finally realized, even if she won't admit it to herself.  
She loves her. She loves Robin Buckley, she loves her funny little laugh, she loves her dry humor, she loves her obscure movie knowledge, she loves her music, she loves her freckles and her hair, she loves her everything.   
So it's fucking torture sleeping not even ten feet away from each other every single night. In some ways, Nancy loves it, being close enough to watch the moonlight reflect off of her hair, close enough to count her freckles. But being so close, it's all she can do not to get up out of her bed and lay down next to Robin, to wake her up and tell her everything.  
But she can't do that. She's done her best to ignore what happened on Christmas Eve, because Nancy knows relationships like this just aren't okay. Her parents would hate it. They might even disown her, or take away the rest of her college funds. And Hawkins, something like this would never go down well there.   
So, as much as it pains her, Nancy has done her best to discourage Robin from trying to continue their relationship, if you could even call it that. She's been acting like a huge bitch to her, and Steve and Jonathan don't understand why, but it's better if they don't. Plus, it's not like they don't have their own problems to worry about. Jonathan is completely absorbed by his film studies classes, he even goes on weekends. And Steve's began to slip back into his King Steve persona, the person he was when they first dated. He even has a new girlfriend.   
Her name is Marie, and Steve says she's really nice, but Nancy's only met her once. She acted a bit jealous of Nancy, which is understandable, given that she's Steve's ex. Mostly, Nancy just tries to ignore her. She already has her own problems, she doesn't need more on her plate.   
She's worried about Steve, too, who is, with Marie's influence, becoming the boy Nancy first met- in other words, an asshole. He's perfectly fine to her and Robin, but she's noticed he's acting… different, a little rude, to Jonathan. Nancy really, really likes the Steve she's watched grow over the past few years. She doesn't want him to regress back to the guy he was. She won't let it happen.   
She remembers what happened because of her and the old Steve. She remembers Barb.   
And, truly, Nancy knows she really has no reason to worry anymore. The monsters of Hawkins are buried six feet deep in another plane of existence.   
She has no reason to worry besides the creeping, crawling doubt worming its way into her head. The feeling that something isn't right. Like after everything that's happened, this couldn't possibly be the end.   
They could never be that lucky.

Steve Harrington  
March 1st, 1987  
New York, New York

Steve knows he's changing. He doesn't know if it's for the better. Marie has a certain kind of influence on him, and when he's around her, he feels like the guy he was in highschool, the guy who could have any girl he wanted, the guy who broke Jonathan's camera and laughed. The guy who got Barb killed. Marie is all the girls he dated back then, before he met Nancy and reformed himself. He knows he was worse then. He knows Marie isn't good for him. He can see it in the way Nancy looks at him, the disappointed little crease in her eyebrows when he makes a joke at Jonathan's expense that maybe hits a little too close to home.  
But he can't bring himself to break up with Marie, to look himself in the eyes and tell him to knock it off. He was happy as King Steve, even if it was a twisted sort of joy.   
So when Marie invites him to the biggest party of the year, of course he says yes. He puts on his most winning grin, and lets himself get pulled back into the life of the beer-chugging, crowd-surfing, party animal he used to be. He does his best to forget what happened at his last party, all those months ago.   
Robin invites herself along, under the pretense of catching some girls, but parties like these were never her scene. Steve has a sneaking suspicion that Nancy sent her along to keep an eye on him.   
It doesn't matter. Besides, it's not like he needs supervision. He's a grown adult. Robin will understand that.   
And she does. She understands, so well that an hour into the party, he's completely on his own, Robin having disappeared into a bathroom with some sorority girl.   
Marie's gone too. He didn't see where.   
As it turns out, Nancy didn't need to get Robin to watch him. He hardly drank anything at all.   
And when the cops show up over a noise complaint, his sobriety is the only thing that saves him, Marie(who turned up suddenly when they heard sirens), and Robin, her hair messed up and wearing someone else's blouse, from a misdemeanor charge like everyone else at this frankly disappointing party.  
Nancy was nothing short of shocked when he turned up at her dorm, dropping off a grinning Robin. She made some sort of questioning noise before he left, but he just waved her away and started the long walk to Marie's sorority. Only a couple girls are there. Most had attended the party, and were probably getting written up by those cops. A girl he vaguely recognized as a friend of Marie's answered the door. The girl- whose name was Bella or Ella or something- helped him carry Marie up to her room, where she promptly began snoring. He kissed her on the forehead, and walked out the door of the sorority house. He heard the door shut behind him, and Marie's friend say his name.  
He turned, and saw her standing awkwardly on the front porch.   
"Just wanted to thank you." She whispered, so as not to wake the others. "Don't think a lot of guys would have cared enough to bring her home." Steve knit his eyebrows, confused.  
"Just- she's had some bad luck with guys. You're a good boyfriend. She hasn't had many of those." Steve nodded.  
"Well, um, glad I could- well- you get it." He responded. This was probably one of the most uncomfortable conversations he'd ever had, which was saying a lot.   
"Yeah. Just, well, stay good to her. You have a good influence. You're good for Marie. So. Thanks, Steve." And with a small nod, she disappeared into the house, the door swinging shut behind her.   
Well, shit. Nancy thought Marie was a bad influence on him. Bella or Ella- he really should have got her name- thought he was a good influence on Marie.   
They'd left the monsters and the danger behind in Hawkins, but apparently that was only the beginning. College is just as goddamn complicated.

Jim Hopper  
??? ?, ????  
??????????

They're close. Too goddamn close. Hopper's been lying to Brenner, to the monsters, whatever the hell you want to call these things for months, letting them believe he knew something he didn't. Trying to sabotage them any way he could, even at the cost of his own life.  
All for nothing. Because the creachers, with Brenner's scientific expertise, had found a door anyway. And now that there was no use for him, they were going to kill him. Then they would escape, free to kill whomever they choose. Free to kill El. Free to kill Joyce.   
For the past three days- at least, what he assumed had been days- he'd wracked his brain, trying to think of some way to trick them, to stop them from opening the portal. So far, the only thing he'd come up with was get it their way, and disrupt them as much as he could. Try to send a message to the other side, tell them to prepare.   
He would die. But he didn't think that mattered all too much. Not if there was a chance of protecting one single person on the other side.   
So when the hour of reckoning came, he was prepared. He had gathered any kind of makeshift weapon he had found in the many days spent scavenging for anything that could help him survive in this hellscape. He was sure the only reason he was still breathing, that he hadn't succumbed to the toxic environment, was because Brenner was physically keeping him alive. And now that he was effectively useless, he only had so much time before this place got to him. So he had to work quickly.  
The sight they planned on using to break through- what looked like a campus of some sort- had places that weapons could easily be hidden. He'd spent what he assumed to be weeks creating distraction: smoke "machines" noisemakers, the like. If those kids could do it back home, so could he, right?   
He'd prepared himself his own weapon: a long, knife-sharp cut of some ambiguous metal that he concealed behind a half-destroyed wall. Now all he could do was wait.  
Brenner hadn't called for him yet. That meant he still had time.   
He saw smoke rising, heard the whine of machines that weren't quite machines, and knew it was his time.  
It was easy to set off the distraction, which pulled away a good part of the "army" to investigate. It left only Brenner and a skeleton crew left. I can deal with them, he thought, pulling his weapon from its hiding place.   
None of them noticed him as he sliced up the guards in front of their makeshift machine, then the scrap-metal portal itself. Brenner roared with rage, and the fury of ten demogorgons was released as the races toward him, teeth bared, at speeds unreachable to anything natural.   
He ran.   
He swung the improvised sword a couple times, to ward them off, and barely made it to the collapsing portal the Brenner fiddled with manically. It was now only strong enough to transport a couple of these monsters. It worked. Hopefully. Hopper was relieved until he saw the wrath in Brenner's face, as the creachers that had never been Brenner unfolded to its true height. Teeth were everywhere. It just had too many teeth, too many arms and hands and mouths and eyes. It was almost too much for him to comprehend.   
He backed away, narrowly missing a deadly swing from one of Brenner's many clawed hands, but not fast enough to fully avoid a deep cut being drawn in his side. He nearly fell, but managed to right himself just in time to slam against the brick barrier beside the door to the other side. He rolled, collapsing into the glowing white light of the portal, inches from death at Brenner's hands. His whole body burned, the contamination of months in the upside down colliding and mixing with pure white light. His side screamed where Brenner had cut him.   
And then he saw the light of the real world. His world. And he couldn't feel anything at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from 'Our time is running out' by Muse.   
I am SO SO SO sorry for taking 4 whole months to update. Life in general had been pretty tough, but reading your guy's encouraging comments has encouraged me to continue this fic. Hope you enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> Title of the fic is from Lorde's song Supercut. Chapter title from the song Perfect Places, also by Lorde. I don't own these characters, i dont profit from them, ect ect.
> 
> Feedback is a girl's best friend!


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